Pink Lloyd caps perfect season in Kennedy Road

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Canadian Horse of the Year contender Pink Lloyd capped a remarkable 8-for-8 campaign in Woodbine stakes with a decisive score in near track-record time in Saturday’s Grade 2, $197,050 Kennedy Road Stakes.

Pink Lloyd ($3.20) battled up front between rivals through quick fractions in the six-furlong sprint. He put away Sweet Grass Creek and Tombelaine exiting the turn, and then opened up a clear lead before turning back a charging Ikerrin Road to prevail by 2 1/4 lengths. Majestic Slew finished third in the seven-horse field.

The final time of 1:08.46 was just .30 off Woodbine’s synthetic track record.

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As usual, Eurico Da Silva rode Pink Lloyd for trainer Robert Tiller.

“He’s an aggressive horse,” Da Silva said. “In the turn, I could feel I had a lot of horse. When we turned home, another horse came out a little bit, and gave him a little touch. He said: ‘It’s time for me to go.’ And he went on his own. He’s a great horse. It’s like a dream come true to ride a horse like this.”

Tiller said the impressive thing about the victory is that six furlongs is shorter than Pink Lloyd’s preferred distance.

“He really wants six and a half or seven furlongs,” Tiller pointed out. “He can relax. He loves chasing horses. He’s just a really good horse. I was afraid of [Ikerrin Road]. He had a real good shot at him. He just shook him off, and away he went. I’m so proud of this animal. I hope he’s around next year, and we can have a lot more fun with him. This is the biggest thrill of my training career.”

Pink Lloyd, who hasn’t lost since finishing second in last year’s Kennedy Road, banked $126,000 for Entourage Stable. The 5-year-old gelding by Old Forester has career earnings of $845,080.